US Politics, August 2024 -- "Unburdened By a Has-Been"

Again, like other governors under consideration, Shapiro lacked Congressional experience. He is only 19 months into his first term, while the other governors under consideration were all in second terms. Beltway moaners gonna moan…

The whole "pivot to the center" expectation is so lame-brained. I saw somebody making a smart point about this the other day, that the assumption that the key to "independent" or "undecided" voters is to treat them like they sit on some mythical exact midpoint between wherever the two parties happen to be is just completely dumb. More than anything, most voters — and especially less ideological voters — want good narratives, storylines, something that seems reassuring or exciting or new or any combination of those things. They in particular really are voting for the people rather than the parties. And I don't know how to assess, say, Shapiro vs. Walz for those voters, but if they like one more than the other it's not going to be because they think one is more or less "centrist."

I had to google "harris for president" to find it.

"Did you mean William Henry Harrison?"

prob just take a min to bubble up through googles algo since its a new site

"ARE YOU BETTER OFF THAN YOU WERE 4 YEARS AGO?"

yes?

am I better off than fall/winter 2020? yes I am.

Four years ago there were still lockdowns, social distancing, very compromised experiences at the movies/concerts as that stuff reopened etc.

Generally speaking, we're better off now than we were four years ago, and most problems we're still dealing with on the ground here date back to 2020.

1980 was 44 years ago, man. Forty-four years before 1980 was FDR's 1936 landslide election.

god that makes my life seem so fucking long

i remember when Carter lost and i was so sad. i was 5!

Shit, GOP is bringing out the big guns

Guys, I swear to god this is real. pic.twitter.com/mhgcHW23br

— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) August 7, 2024

Scott Baio needs some sleep and a shave, spending too many long hours putting together that debate strategy

I'm assuming it involves trying to date two girls at the same time.

I know he's a lunatic, but Baio actually looks pretty good for 63. That Charles in Charge money keeps you young

please tell me he slips a Diagnosis Murder reference in there.

Assuming Trump's team really did manage to Machiavelli the Walz pick to some real but barely measurably extent...like if the common wisdom is that VP nominee generally has no real impact on the outcome of an election, this year seems like the rare instance where that might be quite untrue on BOTH sides of the equation. So really just great job there, guys, keep it up

This Matthew Sheffield thread is pretty otm about the great centrist-voter fallacy, the way it's propagated/propped up by careerist oped writers with zero constituency or insight, and its obvious real goal of blocking progressivism in the Democratic Party.

🧵 It's really stunning how many people who claimed Democrats should "reach out to rural people" really just meant "be Paul Ryan."

Tim Walz is everything these pundits pretended to want. What they actually wanted was a conservative Democratic party.

— Matthew Sheffield (@mattsheffield) August 7, 2024

xp
no no no team trump are expert VP-pickers, I see no reason to think about this any further

I don't know Baio's personal life, but that screen shot is giving off bitter divorced dad fumes so strong my eyes are watering.

Maybe that's just the standard right wing vibe nowadays.

David Muir really let himself go

Thanks, tipsy

scott baio is the golf pro who finally gets fired for being drunk all the time.

yeah, i would have to imagine that there are a FEW rural voters who might react better to "we want to give you paid sick leave and pay for your kid's school lunch" more than hearing Trump repeat his lie about millions of rapists and murderers flooding into the country over and over and over again. it's pretty much the ONLY thing he says anymore. that's it. that's all he's got. that and talk about crowd size.

i was a little curious about sheffield explaining how walz is the pundit centrist but it’s on x and blocked to me.

https://i.ibb.co/BsjRDBR/2024-08-07-10-55-55.png

calling in a drone strike on aipac hq

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GUYLI8_XAAEtr9P?format=jpg&name=small

that sheffield thread:

https://xcancel.com/mattsheffield/status/1820974019174396296

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/07/jd-vance-charles-johnson-texts/

Hey politics nerds, got a question about this passage from a Washington Post article about texts between JD Vance and rightwing blogger Charles Johnson:

As a newly minted senator, Vance solicited Johnson’s views on many topics, including UFOs (“What is your read”), the Republican Party’s relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (“What is GOP Bibi problem?”) and the death of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein (“Do you think Epstein actually killed himself?”). When Johnson suggested that the senator should work to restrict foreign ownership of U.S. housing, Vance responded with a “thumbs up” emoji.

Is this a conservative position? I would have thought it was more of a left-wing thing, since I imagine that most foreign real estate purchases are probably investment property/landlord/airbnb situations that fuck up the availability of housing for poor people. But after seeing the interaction between Vance and Johnson, I googled up "foreign ownership of U.S. housing" and one of the first results was from Ben Carson's American Cornerstone Institute. https://americancornerstone.org/states-move-to-limit-foreign-purchases-of-u-s-housing-stock/

I don't really know shit about the politics of real estate investment, so I figured I'd ask what y'all thought. Is that more of a conservative position to take or does that issue cross the aisles?

Vance attacking Walz: What’s bothers me about Tim Walz is this stolen valor garbage. Do not pretend to be something that you’re not. pic.twitter.com/VGTNIngfY2

— Acyn (@Acyn) August 7, 2024

xpost Ah, thanks for the thread link. Yeah, Sheffield isn't saying Walz is the pundit centrist choice, he's saying that pundit centrists are full of shit and Democrats should not listen to them.

xxpost It's a nationalist position that intersects somewhat with a progressive one. Reminds me of the 1980s anxiety about Japan buying up American properties.

It's really stunning how many people who claimed Democrats should "reach out to rural people" really just meant "be Paul Ryan."

Weird thing to say given that Paul Ryan is from Janesville! A city! Represented by a Democrat in the Wisconsin Assembly! In a county where Biden beat Trump by 10 points! It drives me crazy when people think that someone who's from the Midwest and not from a city with a major sports franchise is "rural."

I kinda think that's his point. They don't care about rural representation at all, they want someone they consider a "sensible conservative," which is what they half-imagine smalltown folks are.

I read that as “have Paul Ryan’s policies and demeanor”, not “Paul Ryan is from a rural area”

With new reservations added today, #MO01 has become the second most expensive House primary on record ($18.2M). It is second only to this year's #NY16 primary, which also featured a Squad incumbent and significant spending from United Democracy Project. pic.twitter.com/SWIsz497OY

— AdImpact Politics (@AdImpact_Pol) August 2, 2024

#MO01 was the cori bush / wesley bell primary

My parents live in Bush's district. It is astonishing to me that as the state has lurched into irretrievably red territory, that St. Louis Democrats have the time and energy for a primary squabble.

As if a relatively junior Representative can significantly move US policy on Israel one way or another.

Apparently the challenger was a campaign manager for a Republican just a couple years ago.

foreign interference in our sacred democracy guess its ok since its not russia

interesting that walz was while in congress one of the most conservative dems by voting record but then while governor signed all this progressive legislation, it could just be circumstance he was representing a conservative district in congress and then as governor he had a bunch of progressive legislation sent his way, but id be interested in knowing if he feels like his politics have shifted since he was in congress and if so why, maybe hes just being decent getting on board with what his constituents voted for feeding school children is good etc, if its that its another data point for electing people who have had normal jobs over freak ivy league lawyers, but someone should ask him about it maybe he responds with some folksy bs but maybe he has a story to tell idk

he would probably have to be more conservative if he was representing a conservative district, no? the state itself is more progressive. maybe he just listens to what people want.

yeah i mean maybe

As if a relatively junior Representative can significantly move US policy on Israel one way or another.

Yeah I think for AIPAC this isn't "We have to get rid of Cori Bush's massive influence," it's a signal that they can/will primary people who don't toe the line.

maybe hes already talked about it perhaps a minnesotan will tell us xp

It is astonishing to me that as the state has lurched into irretrievably red territory, that St. Louis Democrats have the time and energy for a primary squabble.

― cubing the gleam (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, August 7, 2024 10:41 AM (ten minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

it wasn't a squabble, it was AIPAC upending the entire race. just a few months ago, Bell (the person who won last night) even told Bush he wasn't challenging her in the primary. then AIPAC dumped absurd amounts of money in his lap, and for some reason he decided to get in

Apparently the challenger was a campaign manager for a Republican just a couple years ago.

― Bad Bairns (Boring, Maryland), Wednesday, August 7, 2024 10:42 AM (nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

you mean for the general election? i have no idea who the challenger is, but there's no way they'll win. the districts in missouri are gerrymandered so that the democrats win in kansas city and st louis, and then lose in the other 6 districts. the real election is the primary.

Bell is a prosecutor, doesn't seem like a horrible guy or anything but he certainly represents AIPAC, and he was the one who declined to prosecute darren wilson, who murdered michael brown

cori bush was the first representative in the country to call for a cease fire in palestine after the genocide started, so she had to go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyuLKi2LDq8

aipac def making an example of people, in line with israel generally over playing its hand

Since I was the guy saying "let's face it all politicians are pretty rich" the other day, worth commenting that it seems like Walz is actually... not that rich? Doesn't own a house (used to, sold his place for $315K when he moved into the governor's mansion), no book deal, doesn't own a single stock. I mean, I'm not saying he's working class, he makes a $160K salary as governor and he has a pension coming from being a teacher and I assume from Congress too. But he's not like Bernie Sanders or Kamala Harris rich (let alone Trump rich or Bloomberg rich.)

yeah theres no reason why politicians have to be rich, there is a good argument for electing ones who arent

Public school teachers from my own experience retire very comfortably (not sure how far back his political career goes) but not rich-rich.